Powerful! Outlandish! How Blurbs Sell Films

Other endorsements are slightly more protracted, if no less explosive:

''A film of astonishing power.''

''Bubbles to perfection.''

''Absolutely incredible . . . you really should see it.''

And in rarer instances, the tribute rolls on for paragraph after paragraph as the virtues of this week's masterpiece are extolled in such detail and with such hyperbole that your sales resistance is totally shattered.

The subject, here, is blurbs: those quotations from motion picture reviews that are extracted with care, interrupted with ellipses, adorned with exclamation marks and arranged for maximum effect in the nation's magazine and newspaper advertisements.

Critics don't always approve of them, publicists agonize over them and the public is very wary of them. But blurbs work. They sell tickets.

''Any film that is well-received will be supported by a heavy quote campaign,'' said Mark Urman, executive director of East Coast publicity for Columbia Pictures. ''. . . It's impossible to quantify, but the fact is that with certain films a good quote by the right critic could make the difference between the film disappearing without a trace and having a substantial run.'' THE SCIENCE OF BLURBING

People who select quotes for movie ads agree that there is a science, of sorts, to the process of blurbing that starts with the design of the advertisements.

If a movie company expects a film to get a lot of good notices, the company will often use ads with blank or easily discarded sections in them before the movie opens, according to Robert Newman, executive vice president of Miramax Films. Then, when favorable reviews become available, excerpts can quickly be plugged into those spaces, said Newman, who has worked on the distributor's advertising campaigns for such pictures as The Secret Policeman's Other Ball and Crossover Dream.

Blurb hunters develop a feel for the sorts of quotations that work best. For maximum effect, quotes stressing the most commercial aspects of a film should be used, said Richard Abramowitz, national sales director of Cinecom International Films.

Abramowitz -- who has worked on the distributor's publicity campaigns for such pictures as Stop Making Sense, El Norte and The Brother From Another Planet -- uses the example of a political thriller to make his point. In promoting that sort of movie, an experienced blurber will select quotes to emphasize its thrills rather than its politics. The rationale, said Abramowitz, is that people generally prefer to be excited rather than lectured.

In blurbing, it is also important to avoid emphasizing relatively minor aspects of a movie because the public may then suspect that no blurbs could be found praising the major aspects. A quote that gushes over a supporting actor will make people wonder why the stars of the movie aren't being complimented. And a blurb praising set design will raise questions about the plot and cast. ''You have to draw the line,'' said Urman, ''because, in the end, most filmgoers are not interested in lighting, set design or many other things that frequently get praised.''

People who make up quote advertisements agree that, in general, they search for certain ''buzz'' words and phrases. The phrase ''the best film of the year'' is almost always appropriate for blurbing purposes, said Urman. He added that when critics ''start talking in terms of Oscars'' they are especially likely to be quoted.

Stephen Schiff, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics and movie critic for Vanity Fair, has noticed that favorable comparisons to previous hit movies are often excerpted by publicists. ''A comedy that out- E.T.'s E.T and out-busts Ghostbusters!'' is the example he offered of a quote that would warm any blurber's heart.

WHO GETS BLURBED?

When it comes to blurbs, all critics are not created equal. Favorable quotes from critics who are thought to be well-known or respected are preferable to rave blurbs from more obscure reviewers.

''You see my name on a lot of ads because I'm one of the few critics who are nationally known,'' said Judith Crist, who has reviewed movies for a variety of publications for many years and now broadcasts critiques on New York's television station WOR.

''If the only quote you have is from the Sheboyan Weekly Gazette published by the senior high school class, it's a problem,'' said Abramowitz. But he added that sometimes a quote from a local critic is effective when placed in an ad in the critic's newspaper. Readers ''identify'' with that critic, he said, or at least with the paper.

Urman noted that when he's putting together an ad campaign, he frequently likes to get a sampling of quotes from high, middle and lowbrow critics to show that there's a consensus of opinion and to reach moviegoers of varying levels of sophistication.